Leadership is in crisis – it’s a good time to shine

“Are you two really the best we’ve got?”

A despairing voter spoke for much of his nation when he fired the question at the UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative PM Rishi Sunak in a televised debate eight days ahead of what some view as one of the most frustrating UK General Election run-ins in recent memory.

Days later, a cartoonist ran the same phrase under unflattering caricatures of the No 10 rivals alongside US President runners Biden and Trump after the first head to head of the new campaign. Americans have a choice between an octogenarian who appeared to almost fell asleep during the debate and a septuagenarian convict who is calculated to have allegedly made 30,573 false or misleading claims during his previous term in office.

Meanwhile young men and boys are looking to the self-styled “king of toxic masculinity” Andrew Tait – currently awaiting trial for rape and trafficking – for guidance on how to be a man while much of Europe is so disillusioned with mainstream politics it is looking to the Far Right for strong governance.

Is leadership in crisis?

A newly-released index in leadership confidence suggests it is.

Russell Reynolds has been tracking confidence in executive teams for the last three years – and seen a continuous decline which it blames on widespread failure to address the unprecedented complexity and uncertainty of leadership in the current landscape.

The Leadership Confidence Index captures board members, CEOs, C-suite leaders, and next-generation leaders’ confidence in their executive team, looking at capability, issue management and behaviour.

All three fell, as, according to a separate index by the same researchers, did faith in leaders’ preparedness to face the top threats impacting organisational health: economic uncertainty, availability of key talent and skills, tech change, geopolitical uncertainty and increased regulation.

Yet it is amid this edgy climate of unease, economic shocks and rapid technological advancement in the wake of the AI revolution that effective leadership can and should shine like a beacon, navigating organisations through the turbulence, raising teams to the challenge and riding tailwinds to transformational growth.

So how can executives and senior leadership up their game to inspire confidence, loyalty and improved performance? Here are eight ways:

1. Inspire a Shared Vision

In times of uncertainty, a compelling vision can unite and motivate the team, encourage loyalty and minimise attrition and burn out. Executives can inspire by:

• Articulating the Vision: Clearly communicate the long-term vision and how you hope to get there. It should be ambitious but equally not too far reaching.  Ensure there is a strategy to support everyone to understand their role in achieving it and invite questions. The more the vision is challenged, the more robust and engrained it will become.
• Aligning Goals: Align individual and team goals with the broader organisational vision to ensure a shared sense of purpose and direction. Every employee should understand why they do what they do every day, feel valued and know what they stand to gain, personally and professionally.
• Involving the Team: Engage employees in the vision-building process to enhance commitment and enthusiasm.

2. Communicate with Clarity and Transparency

Effective communication is the cornerstone of inspiring leadership, especially during crises. Executives and senior leaders should:

• Be Transparent: Share the challenges being faced and the strategies being implemented to address them. Honesty builds trust.
• Maintain Clarity: Ensure messages are clear and consistent. Avoid jargon and be direct about what is happening and why. Think about the channels through which you communicate and who should deliver the messaging.
• Encourage regular two-way engagement: Keep lines of communication open through regular updates, meetings, and feedback sessions.

3. Show Empathy and Compassion

During difficult times, employees look to leaders for understanding and support. Executives can demonstrate empathy by:

• Listening Actively: Take the time to hear employees’ concerns and suggestions. Show that their voices matter. Build time into board and SLT meetings to discuss those concerns and share details of the discussions with the workforce to show you are listening.
• Offering Support: Provide easily and universally accessible resources for mental health and well-being. Create a nurturing culture where employees feel confident sharing any personal or professional issues, knowing leadership will respond with careful consideration, practical support and genuine understanding and kindness.
• Being Visible: It can be tempting to hide below decks when seas are rough but this is exactly the time the crew need to see their captain leading decisively. Make a conscious effort to be present and approachable. Check-ins and addresses to staff can go a long way to build strong relations and loyalty, whether virtual or in real life.. Take a personal interest in your workforce. Namecheck employees who have gone above and beyond and recognise any achievements they may have chosen to share from their personal lives such as adopting or charity work.

4. Demonstrate Resilience and Adaptability

One worrying trend noted in the Russell Reynolds report was the failure of leadership to develop resilience in response to repeated exposure to shocks and challenges. Inspiring leaders should embody resilience and adaptability, setting a powerful example for their teams.

• Stay Positive: Lead with realistic optimism. Positivity can be contagious, filtering down from the top, but only if tempered with honesty about the difficulties you face together. Employees will become jaded and may even be offended if leadership constantly tries to spin messaging that does not align with what they are hearing and feeling.
• Adapt Quickly: Show flexibility in strategies and be willing to pivot as circumstances change. Admit mistakes or wrong turns and be humble and open about what you have learned. Not only will this instil faith that you recognise when change is needed and are skilled enough to change tack, it will create a dynamic and agile environment in which others feel safe to go back and try things differently.
• Celebrate Small Wins: Even if you are struggling to steady the ship in a major storm, take time to recognise and celebrate even minor successes to boost morale and maintain momentum. Make sure staff can see the light on the horizon – calmer waters and exciting new opportunities ahead – and that they belong to an organisation committed to seizing them.

5. Lead by Example

Executives who lead by example are rewarded with confidence and respect and inspire leadership and teams to behave the same way.

Ways of leading by example include:

• Maintaining Integrity: Uphold the company’s values and ethical standards.  Executives should clearly define and communicate the ethical standards and behaviours they expect, model these themselves and reward employees who do the same. They should be seen to address conflicts justly and take responsibility for decisions, whether they have been successful or not.
• Showing Commitment: Executives and senior leadership need to be seen to be willing to go the extra mile and demonstrate a strong work ethic. This does not mean being in the office for 12 hours a day and over weekends to try to set up a slavish competition around time spent in the office. But it does mean showing company loyalty, determination to see projects through and genuine interest in the outcomes of initiatives and efforts across the organisation, not just in your own department or team.
• Embracing Challenges: One man’s challenge is another’s opportunity. Strong organisations and leadership welcome the churn and thrust of dynamic economic landscapes. Industrial revolutions – such as the AI-led one we are currently in – leave the luddites behind and create a new generation of entrepreneurs and visionaries. Be alert and open to flexing your leadership and business model to capitalise on emerging trends and technologies. If your organisation is struggling, embrace the opportunity to do things differently, always ensuring you take your people with you by following the steps we have laid out above.

6.Foster a Culture of Innovation

Embracing challenges in this way can be a catalyst for innovation and progress. Executives can inspire creativity and forward-thinking by:

• Encouraging Experimentation: Create an environment where it’s safe to take risks and experiment with new ideas. Open collaborative forums where employees at any level can suggest and work together on new initiatives or ways of doing things.
• Providing Resources: Allocate time and resources for teams to explore innovative solutions to problems. Think of how big tech companies build playful spaces designed to foster creativity. Ensure your workspace – and online resources – have an element of play.
• Recognising Innovators: Always respond to staff who show initiative, praising the instinct even if their ideas are not necessarily what you are looking for at that moment. Publicly acknowledge and reward those who contribute innovative ideas and solutions.

7. Build and Maintain Trust

Trust is a critical element of effective leadership, particularly during difficult times. Executives should focus on:

• Consistency: Be consistent in words and actions. Follow through on promises and commitments. If changes have to be made meaning that this becomes impossible, explain why.
• Accountability: Take responsibility for decisions and outcomes, whether positive or negative. Accountability builds credibility. Share your analysis of how things went wrong – or right – lessons learned and what is being done to ensure best practice is being adopted going forward. This also encourages employees to be accountable and trust that any mistakes owned up to will be treated fairly and with constructive learning in mind.
• Open Honest Dialogue: Encourage open and honest communication across all levels of the organisation. Explain clearly any changes in direction, restructuring and other critical decisions that will impact on the workforce; give the reasons and thinking behind them and the benefits to the company and employees. Encourage feedback and answer further questions.

8. Embrace AI

Surveys have repeatedly found that employees do not trust their executives or leadership to lead them through the AI revolution and are secretly using Generative AI without appropriate guidance or guardrails while they wait for official policy and training – at great reputational, compliance and commercial risk.

Meanwhile the Russell Reynolds research found only 58% of leadership felt confident in their Executives’ ability to effectively embrace digital transformation.  Executives and senior leadership should be embracing new technologies by:

• Becoming AI-literate: AI is not an IT issue. Every leader of every department and function should be AI-literate and collaborating to develop the best and most effective AI capabilities across the organisation in alignment with strategic priorities and objectives.
• Demonstrating proficiency: Explain to your workforce how you plan to improve their experience and skills and drive progress and growth through AI.
• Be open: Keep them up to date on any developments and how their jobs might be affected; invite their collaboration and feedback in the change management needed to adopt and scale up new tech initiatives and programmes. Offer personalised, human-led training and answer any questions or concerns they may have to maintain buy-in, confidence and trust.
• Show them the future: Leadership that is able to demonstrate its understanding of the AI revolution, its opportunities and risks, and show a commitment to genuine tech-led progress will give employees faith in the future of your organisation, even if things feel tough right now.

There is no doubt that leadership is facing an unprecedented myriad of complex challenges, globally, domestically and internally, with frequent economic shocks, changing cultures, regulations, expectations and fast-moving technology and trends.

As the England football team has demonstrated in its opening matches, skills, expertise and experience are nothing without cohesive, visionary leadership that inspires trust and confidence.

But when faced with adversity, unexpected challenges and external pressures, effective leadership can turn things around by taking responsibility, adapting, fostering creativity and innovation and inspiring loyalty and faith in the future.

Confidence can ebb and flow at the best of times, but in the worst of times, executives and senior leadership can show strength by asking for help and guidance, through mentors, networks or coaching, to refine, sharpen and build their skills and instincts in accordance with the changing, AI-led climate.

The Rialto team of executive coaches can support you and your organisation to navigate challenges, build resilience and adaptability and identify and seize new opportunities, including optimising the adoption of AI through intensive research of relevant trends & use by competitors in your industry.

Overview:

Labour and the Conservatives are jockeying for position as the party that can be most trusted with the economy. Both have pledged to adhere to strict rules on debt and borrowing to avoid the investor jitters and economic meltdown triggered by Liz Truss’s mini-budget of tax cuts and increased spending.

Both will have to grapple with a major funding hangover from the triple shocks of Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine and many say neither has been totally upfront about the scale of the task ahead, which could seriously suffocate any chances of imminent economic recovery and hoped for interest rate cuts.

Both have promised major house-building programmes which would be a welcome boost for the construction industry after years of slow development made worse by high mortgage rates – but can they be achieved?

The biggest potential economic game changer between Labour and the Conservatives came with tax cuts or tax freezes.

The Tories have promised £17bn tax cuts over the life of the next Parliament to put more money in the pockets of working people, which they say will stimulate the economy. Their proposed scrapping of NI for most self-employed people means they will carry 15% less of the tax burden than salaried workers – 20% compared to 35% on average – making it more attractive for employers to use consultants and freelancers. For directors and partners, this could potentially offer a considerable wage boost.

However, the Conservatives also tabled a raft of expensive new measures including National Service for all 18-year-olds and heavy investment in infrastructure, defence and childcare. Rishi Sunak says the funding will come from cutting the welfare bill, non-doms and slashing the civil service and non-protected public services. Critics say such income streams are far from guaranteed and his sums don’t add up. His promised tax cuts plus extra spending could therefore bring more uncertainty and instability.  But is he just setting a political trap for the incoming government, making tax the electoral focus and forcing Labour’s hand?

Arguably, we could have advanced The Reform Party as the most viable future opposition here after they polled one percent higher than the Conservatives for the first time days before releasing their own manifesto. However, Nigel Farage’s party is unlikely to translate vote share to seats.  The right wing vote will be split fairly equally if current polling is reflected on the day. Either way, the Conservatives have realistically shifted from fighting for the right to rule, to battling for the Shadow bench, which means they can offer a menu of extravagant economic pledges without potentially ever having to honour them.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, currently seen as PM-in-waiting, introduced what some have called a “straightjacket” or “safety first” manifesto. There were no rabbits, no hats, no surprises. Land is in sight, all he has to do is keep the ship steady and hope for the weather to remain clement.

Starmer stressed his number one priority would be wealth creation via a National Wealth Fund, using £8bn within “allowed” borrowing and broad reform to regulation and planning to kickstart the economy and bring in private investment as the first of his five core missions. He pledged to create 650,000 new “good” jobs, most in a world-beating green economy, and drive the highest growth in the G7 – a difficult one to pull off with so many variables beyond his control, mainly the performance of the other six members.

Optimists believe that with a “super-majority” in the Commons and his growth mindset, there is a chance he could push through a bold programme of change and hope to ride a global uplift to pull off this trick, which seems to represent his riskiest promise.

Critics say he has not given any clear indication of how his party plans to achieve this turnaround, especially with the fiscal mess and spending pressures he will inherit.

His clean green Great British Energy company and Great British Railways would bring these core sectors back into national or partial national ownership, the former, he says, helping to bring down energy prices and profit the nation. For the renewables industry and the manufacturing and logistics businesses supporting it, a Labour term in office should see heavy investment towards the latter part including improving the national grid. Other sectors can hope for energy security going forward, lower fuel prices, lower inflation and more interest rate cuts plus more intense investment in innovation and business creation in the regions and nations, should all go to plan!

No tax cuts for now but he pledged not to raise corporate taxes, VAT or taxes on working people and promised wholesale reform of the business rates system to make it fairer on SMEs, all welcomed by business leaders. He did not rule out council tax and capital gains tax increases.

Instead, extra money for the NHS, infrastructure and education would come from raiding private schools, non-doms and economic growth, he said. In interviews, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves indicated she would like to lower taxes for working people but only if fiscal stability was first achieved.

Labour has ruled out reversing Brexit but said it would seek a more favourable trade deal with the EU.  The CBI approved Labour plans for further devolution to “unlock the power of the UK’s regions” and attract national and international investment.

Improved workers’ rights and minimum wages tied to cost of living with an end to age bands could see wage bills rising for most British businesses.

While Starmer’s policies were broadly welcomed, he only set out clear funding plans for the fifth of the five years and for a selection of policies. 0Critics said his plans were uncosted and largely unachievable in the current economic climate.

Neither party has been clear about how they will reduce crippling national debt payments while repairing crumbling healthcare and other public services, transport links and increasing defence spending without tax rises.

Aside from the central planks of the Labour manifesto, offering hope to the regions, renewables, manufacturing around infrastructure and housebuilding, senior leadership and executives have little to go on from the manifestos in terms of strategic planning and may have to wait many months for a clear idea of new opportunities in and risks to the domestic economy and global trade.

That means continuously striving for innovation, efficiency and optimising new and disruptive technologies to ensure professional and organisational strategic growth and success in this ongoing, unpredictable and ever-changing business environment.

Responses from business organisations:

Conservative Party:

Rain Newton-Smith, CBI CEO: “Moves to reduce tax on workers and increase the number of apprenticeships are in isolation welcome – but both are areas where a more holistic approach could unlock the business investment needed to deliver the shared goal of a high productivity, high growth economy. ”

Paul Johnson, IFS Director: “The Conservatives have promised some £17bn per year of tax cuts, and a big hike in defence spending….Those are definite giveaways paid for by uncertain, unspecific and apparently victimless savings. Forgive a degree of scepticism.”

Justin Young, CEO at Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors: “1.6 million homes over the next five years … is over 300,000 new homes a year – which hasn’t been achieved since the sixties.”

Accountancy Age: “The focus on reducing administrative burdens and enhancing access to finance for SMEs is poised to support smaller businesses in navigating economic challenges and capitalising on growth opportunities.”

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium: “After 14 years in government, the Conservative Party are aware of the major issues facing the retail industry. Unfortunately, this manifesto fails to take the bull by the horns. Despite previous promises to reform the broken business rates system, we continue to see empty shops around the country that have fallen prey to sky-high rates.”

Labour Party:

Paul Johnson: “This is a manifesto that promises a dizzying number of reviews and strategies to tackle some of the challenges facing the country….Labour’s manifesto offers no indication that there is a plan for where the money would come from to finance this.”

Rain Newton-Smith: “Reassurances that Labour will not increase corporation tax and will look at wholesale reform of the business rates system are especially welcome…Turning these proposals into legislation would require continued collaboration with business to understand the fine detail on how their implementation can avoid unintended consequences.”

Helen Dickinson: “The Labour manifesto includes many of the right policies to help retail invest for the future, upskill its workforce, and play its part in growing the UK economy.

“From replacing the broken business rates system, to reforming the rigid Apprenticeship Levy, Labour are promising to make changes that will have a meaningful impact to retailers and their customers.”

Promises, promises…key takeaways from the election manifestos for Executives and leadership. 

Following our overview of the key electoral policies put forward by the leading political parties, here we explore how the manifestos may affect key areas of business and different sectors.

Taxes:

Conservative Party:

• £17bn tax cuts per year by 2029/30.
• Includes a further 2p off employee National Insurance by April 2027 and end of NI for 4m self-employed.
• No income tax rises – but thresholds frozen until 2029.
• No rises on VAT, corporation tax, capital gains tax, or stamp duty land tax.

Labour Party:

• No increase to National Insurance, income tax or VAT, thresholds frozen until 2029.
• Corporation tax capped at 25% for the full term.
• £8.6bn in taxes to be raised by the end of a first term by raiding private schools, energy companies, overseas property investors and cracking down on non-doms and tax avoidance.

Workforce and skills:

Conservative Party:

• Fund 100,000 apprenticeships for young people, paid for by curbing some “poor quality” university degrees.
• Mandatory National Service – military or civic – for all 18-year-old school leavers. (Unclear how this will fit with apprenticeships.)
• Introduce “Advanced British Standard” baccalaureate-style qualification and scrap  ’levels and newly-introduced T levels. Business leaders say the constant reform of further education and qualifications makes it difficult to compare potential recruits of different ages.
• Extend free childcare for pre-schoolers from 15 to 30 hours per week, supporting working parents.

Labour Party:

• New Deal for Working People to ban exploitative zero hours contracts, enforce a living wage for all workers based on the cost of living, equal workers’ rights from day one, improve trade union access and protection.
• Remove cap on compensation for ordinary unfair dismissal, currently the lower of one year’s pay or £115,115.
• Establish Skills England to bring together business, training providers and unions with national and local government to create a highly trained workforce.
• Create 650,000 new jobs, mostly skilled, largely through public/private investment in the green economy. Open 3,000 new nurseries.
• Replace the Apprenticeship Levy with a Growth and Skills Levy, align skills provision and migration with an industrial strategy, empower regional mayors to support skills and growth

SMEs:

Conservative Party:

• Improve access to finance for SMEs including through expanding Open Finance and exploring the creation of Regional Mutual Banks
• Lift employee threshold allowing more companies to be considered medium-sized.
• Retain key tax incentives like the Enterprise Investment Scheme, Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, Venture Capital Trusts, Business Asset Disposal Relief, Agricultural Property Relief and Business Relief.

Labour Party:

• Create a new Regulatory Innovation Office and framework to foster innovation.
• Wholescale reform of business rates to make them fairer and level playing field between smaller businesses and online giants.
• Take action on late payments
• Improve guidance and remove barriers to exporting for small businesses as well as reform procurement rules to give smaller companies greater access to government contracts. (companies with at least two of the following: less than 50 employees, max turnover of £10.2m or 5.1m max on the balance sheet)
• Reform of the British Business Bank to help SMEs access capital.

Trade:

Conservative Party

• Complete free trade agreements with India and with the Gulf Cooperation Council.
• Continue to pursue free trade agreements with countries such as Israel and Switzerland
• Agree a free trade agreement with the US ‘when they are ready to do so’.

Labour Party

• No reversal of Brexit but would seek better EU trade deal.
• Publish a trade strategy striking new free trade agreements and negotiate standalone sector deals.
• Seek a new strategic partnership with India and deepen co-operation with partners across the Gulf and emerging African markets.

Infrastructure:

Conservative Party:

• Invest £36bn in local roads, rail and buses to drive regional growth including £8.3bn to fill potholes and resurface roads
• Reverse ULEZ expansion and apply local referendums to new 20mph zones and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.
• Nationwide gigabit broadband coverage by 2030.
• Speed up the average time it takes to sign off major infrastructure projects ‘from four years to one’.
• Rail Reform Bill to create Great British Railways, a public-private partnership with £44bn allocated to Network Rail over five years

Labour Party:

• £1.8bn to upgrade ports and build supply chains across the UK.
• Push to full gigabit and national 5G coverage by 2030.
• Great British Railways – bringing them back into public ownership
• Update national planning policy to make it easier to build laboratories, digital infrastructure, and gigafactories.
• Create a new National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.
• Develop a ten-year infrastructure strategy aligned with industrial strategy and regional development priorities.

Construction and estate management:

Conservative Party:

• 1.6m new homes over five years (100,000 more than the 2019 pledge which hasn’t yet been possible to deliver).
• Stamp duty cut for some first time buyers.
• New Help to Buy scheme.
• Tax cuts for landlords who sell to tenants.
• Abolish legacy EU ‘nutrient neutrality’ rules to immediately unlock the building of 100,000 new homes with local consent.

Labour Party:

• 1.5m new homes over five years made easier by reformed planning laws and enforced mandatory local targets.
• Establish new towns.
• Mortgage guarantee scheme to support first-time buyers.
• Stop developers selling new flats as leaseholds.
• Retrofit 5m homes to make them energy efficient.

Finance and professional services:

Conservative Party:

• Support the City of London’s position as a leading global market through the implementation of the Mansion House reforms.
• Ensure the Basel III capital requirements do not inhibit lending to SMEs.
• £250m Invest in Women Fund to support female entrepreneurs.
• Step up fight against money laundering and dirty money; ensure all British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies adopt open registers of beneficial ownership.

Labour Party:

• Support reforms in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023.
• Uphold the ring-fencing regime.
• Regulate the Buy Now Pay Later sector.
• Create a national financial inclusion strategy.
• Reform the British Business Bank to support growth in the regions and nations, giving SMEs greater access to capital.

Retail and services:

Conservative Party:

• Ease burden of business rates for high street, leisure and hospitality firms with a £4.3bn business rates support package over five years.
• Crack down on high street crime.

Labour Party:

• Plan for higher wage bills through minimum wage/gig economy reform.
• Business rate reform to enable high street businesses to compete with online giants.
• End £200 threshold on prosecuting shoplifters.

Manufacturing and energy:

Conservative Party:

• Invest £6bn in energy efficiency over the next three years to make around a million homes warmer.
• Look to fund an energy efficiency voucher scheme for installation of energy efficiency measures and solar panels.
• Push forward with Advanced Manufacturing Plan providing a £4.5bn commitment to secure strategic manufacturing sectors including automotive, aerospace, life sciences and clean energy.

Labour Party:

• Set up a new Great British Energy.
• National Wealth Fund aims to bring in £3 private investment for every £1 spent.
• £1.5bn to new gigafactories to support automotive industry.
• £2.5bn  to rebuild steel industry.
• £1bn to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture.
• £500m to support the manufacturing of green hydrogen.

Technology, innovation, investment and R&D:

Conservative Party:

• Increase public spending on R&D from £20bn to £22bn and maintain research and development tax reliefs
• Create more freeports.

Labour Party:

• Support development of the AI sector, remove planning barriers to new datacentres, create National Data Library.
• Scrap short funding cycles for key R&D institutions in favour of ten-year budgets.
• New Regulatory Innovation Office to speed up approval of innovative products and accelerate benefits of the AI revolution.

Lib Dems, Reform and Greens, at a glance: 

Liberal Democrats:

• Seek to rejoin the Common Market and later reverse Brexit.
• A push for net zero would see more investment in renewables and retrofitting.
• Raise income tax thresholds when economically viable.
• 3% of GDP to go into R&D by 2030
• Address labour and skills shortages through provision of lifelong vocational training in key areas including technology.
• Modernise employment rights especially around the gig economy.

Reform: 

• Lift the income tax threshold from £12,570 to £20,000.
• Slash corporation from 25% to 20% and lift the threshold to £100,000 profit.
• Scrap business rates for SMEs.
• Raise NI for “foreign” workers to 20% to encourage hiring of UK staff.
• 20% tax relief on private healthcare.

Green Party:

• Nationalise water, five big energy companies, railways.
• Four-day working week.
• 75% windfall tax on banks.
• £15ph minimum wage.
• Freeze corporation tax.
• 150,000 new social homes a year.
• Carbon tax on businesses.

Hopefully we’ve been able to provide a valuable insight into what executives and leadership can anticipate post-July 4, areas of potential growth and some food for thought for individuals to decide how much faith can be placed in some of the bolder manifesto promises.

Of course, global events will continue to have an unpredictable and profound impact on the economic landscape, especially with half the world going to the polls, a resurgence of far right politics in Europe and a possible return for Donald Trump in the US.

What will that mean for relations with China, the war in Ukraine and geopolitical stability?

For executives and senior leadership, the central message domestically is the continued political emphasis on stability and robust regulation and infrastructure support to foster growth in key areas from both leading parties. Unless we are rocked by another seismic event, we are unlikely to see any shocks to the economy or radical socio-economic reform coming from Westminster, in the foreseeable future at least. What remains to be seen is how many of these promises we can realistically afford and which the incoming government will prioritise if they cannot all be met.

In summary, Sunak continues to insist the British economy is “turning a corner”. His manifesto promises to stimulate the economy with reduced taxes and greater consumer spending power, in line with Conservative tradition.

A Labour victory would see investment and devolution of decision-making in the regions, potentially creating new opportunities for business outside London and the South East. It may also see wage bills grow and union powers enhanced.

Both parties are promising improved road and rail networks to connect the country and stronger trade deals to promote export growth.

We’ll continue to keep a close eye on any developments we think relevant to our clients both in the UK and globally and seek to help executives and senior leaders navigate this rocky landscape through staying informed and ensuring they are poised to seize new opportunities for strategic and personal growth while avoiding pitfalls and risks.

If you require support to understand how the unfolding economic and political trends will impact your personal or organisations strategic planning and direction, please contact a member of the Rialto team to discuss how our business and leadership support can help.

Our consulting and research teams at Rialto invest an increasing amount of time upgrading how we can best support business leaders to continually develop and flourish professionally and, perhaps most importantly, retain their zest, enthusiasm, drive and relevance in the face of emerging business and economic trends.

Whether our clients are just starting to realise their next horizon ambitions, looking to diversify their portfolio of executive positions or consolidate and plan for an active semi-retirement, the single most important, fundamental principle at the heart of all of their strategies is this: Progress. Stagnation and, worse, being left behind, are among the greatest fears of the world’s most dynamic and successful leaders and influencers.

Progress keeps things interesting, keeps leadership ahead of the curve, ensures a constant upwards trajectory. Progress means always having an eye on the future and being prepared for wherever it may bring. It means committing to continuous learning and personal growth; to nurturing and expanding networks; identifying, meeting and surpassing the changing requirements in an economic landscape that is evolving at lightning speed, propelled by exponential acceleration of technological disruption.

But how can individuals refine and upgrade their credentials, skills and expertise to be leaders of the future?

Here are three practical steps we support our clients to adopt to gain a competitive edge:

1. Invest in your own digital and technological literacy

Why It Matters:

The Generative AI-led technological revolution is transforming every function within every industry at a dizzying pace. It is no longer good enough to employ people to ‘do’ AI for you. AI, particularly Generative AI, should be reviewed, adopted and scaled regularly by anyone in any leadership capacity to drive innovation and efficiency and to empower workforces to use it safely and effectively.

Key Skills:

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning:Understanding AI and its applications can help leaders automate processes, drive growth, performance and efficiency, derive insights from big data and enhance decision-making.
• Cybersecurity:Knowledge of cybersecurity and other risks around AI is crucial to protect organisational data, infrastructure and reputation.
• Data analytics:The ability to analyse and interpret data helps make informed, strategic decisions. Applications such as predictive analytics and simulation software enable low-cost testing and refining of new products, services and innovations.
• Digital transformation strategies: Implementing and managing digital transformation initiatives helps organisations to stay competitive and relevant.
• Blockchain technology: Helps secure complex, cross-border transactions and simplifies logistics solutions.

How to attain them:

We’ve dedicated much of our digital content and training to this for several years now and helped many hundreds of senior leaders from around the world get ahead of this fourth industrial revolution. Now AI is becoming mainstream, there is no hiding from it. It may seem intimidating but it is just like any business language and can be demystified with appropriate support and training. See our recent blog on how to go from AI avoidant/confused to pro. Rialto offers personalised development programmes and organisational analysis for AI implementation plus regular online webinars with specialist tech/change management experts.

Sites such as LinkedIn, Google, and Microsoft also offer free online training to help bridge your knowledge gaps and become proficient and confident in your own digital and technological literacy.

2. Cultivate your emotional intelligence

Why It Matters:

Emotional intelligence involves the ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions, as well as recognise, interpret and respond appropriately to the emotions of others. This skill set is essential for effective leadership and has a profound impact on various aspects of business management and organisational success. It enhances decision-making, communication, relationship-building, navigation of internal politics, employee engagement, change management, leadership influence, and conflict resolution. By cultivating emotional intelligence, business leaders can create a more positive and productive workplace and interpret and respond to the changing demands of their marketplace.

In today’s business landscape, leadership needs to be able to connect, communicate effectively with and influence a huge variety of stakeholders across a broad range of media, networks and digital platforms. One day an executive or senior leader might be addressing MPs in a select committee hearing, the next, answering concerns of venture capitalists; later that week delivering difficult news to the workforce in the morning and an interactive webinar to schoolchildren after lunch. Emotional intelligence is an essential skill to tune in to the language, style, culture and expectations of different audiences.

Key skills:

• Self-awareness: Poor leaders are the last in the room to recognise their own shortcomings, whether it is a bad temper or failure to trust and delegate. Leaders who are self-aware can correct mistakes, apologise when needed and adjust their leadership style. They are more likely to continue to grow professionally and be more aware of the dynamics of their interactions with others, helping them to foster stronger, more productive relationships with colleagues, employees, stakeholders and customers.
• Self-regulation and rationality: No matter how skilled and experienced a leader may be, no organisation wants to take on the liability of an individual who can not control their emotions in today’s commercially sensitive and litigious world. Being able to regulate emotions and respond rationally even in the most arduous or stressful situations is a skill highly prized and valued in the modern business world. Staying focused and rational also helps ensure clearer decision making based on data, evidence and expertise, not temporal and unreliable feelings.
• Empathy: Leaders who show empathy and genuine concern and compassion for their employees’ well-being are more likely to gain their trust and loyalty. Empathy means appreciating that each member of your workforce is a human being with feelings, fluctuating mental and physical health needs, emotional needs and commitments outside of work. Empathetic leaders are attuned to their markets and respond quickly and appropriately to changing cultural dynamics and influential external events.
• Conflict management: Wherever there are people there is conflict. In a well-managed environment, conflict can be a positive energising force, driving original thought, innovation and passion. Get it wrong, and teams can disintegrate into bitter power struggles, simmering resentment and a vacuum of creative collaboration. Effective conflict management and resolution fosters strong teams and constructive outcomes.
• Building trust and rapport: Senior leaders and executives in an effective people-centred organisation know they have hired the right people, feel a natural rapport with them and trust them to do their jobs within the accepted parameters. That mutual trust is rewarded with loyalty and productivity. Such leaders inspire confidence and reassurance during times of uncertainty, helping to maintain morale and focus.

How to attain them:  

Taking the time to step back and reflect on successes and failures, whether relational or business decisions and outcomes, helps develop emotional intelligence and raise self-awareness.  Engaging in EI training and working with executive coaches can significantly enhance these skills. Seek a mentor or coach to act as a sounding board and mirror. Ask them to help you reflect on and learn from your emotional responses when dealing with others or making decisions. Are you able to understand the emotions you feel? How might your opinions and communication impact others? What expectations might there be on how you behave in difficult situations? Are there certain triggers that cause a more emotional response, for example?

Once you remove or account for these factors, you can analyse more clearly your emotional responses and look to balance them with logic and reason.

The best leaders find ways to manage stress levels, through positive actions such as seeking mentoring and coaching, a healthy exercise, diet and sleeping regime, hobbies and other cultural distractions and interests and spending quality time with friends and family.

In work, they treat their employees as individuals, not a hive or cogs in a machine. Pre-empt their needs, look after their health and wellbeing, practise active listening and responding with emotional clarity.

Good leadership takes the time to address the emotional dynamics behind disagreements and brings rational judgement to de-escalate and resolve conflict. Reasons behind any decisions should be communicated clearly and effectively to avoid any sense of injustice and help all parties learn from the experience. See our blog on leadership lessons from the tech titans to see how Apple CEO Tim Cook employs empathy and inclusion to motivate his devoted workforce and turn customers into worshippers.

3. Embrace lifelong learning

Why it matters:

The foundation of effective leadership into the future lies in a commitment to lifelong learning and in this category we include skills and expertise and experiential learning. Once, a quality degree, perhaps an MA in your specialist subject plus ongoing on-the-job training were considered enough. That was during the decades between World War Two and the late 1980s, when the economic landscape changed at a pace that was positively glacial compared to today’s dynamic, fast-evolving environment.

Technology and globalisation have combined to create a constant state of flux rocked by frequent shocks such as the internet and digital revolution of the 90s, the advent of AI and especially launch of ChatGPT’s open Generative AI interface in 2022, and the Covid pandemic.

Today, executives and senior leaders need to be agile, adaptable and proactive, not reactive. While nobody can really predict exactly when and where the shocks will come and what their impact will be, leaders can ensure they are ahead of any cultural and technological curves by building on-going learning into their professional routine. We have covered the need for constant upskilling and learning in digital and disruptive technologies above. Other areas for focus could include these key skills:

• Responsive leadership: You may think you have this leadership thing licked, but even if you are CEO of a FTSE-100 or Nasdaq-listed multi-national, the world of business continues to change around you and you must continue to change your leadership style with it to stay relevant. What worked in 2020, during the pandemic, may be less effective today, post ChatGPT. Laws and expectations around inclusivity, equality, mental health and work culture are changing constantly. Covid saw the move towards remote working and all the technologies that came with it. We’re moving through hybrid working and increasingly coming back into the workplace as we rediscover the benefits of physical proximity, close collaboration and emotional connection. How leaders dress has even changed as well as how we network and how we speak to each other, all so much less formal. A new book or blog by an influential leader can shift the dial almost overnight. Key/evolving topics to study might include strategic leadership, change management, team dynamics, decision-making processes, conflict resolution and organisational behaviour.
• Global Business and Economics: Globalisation requires executives and senior leaders to have a keen understanding of international markets, economies, and cultural nuances. They need to know what is expected of them in different environments, cultures and countries as their organisations expand into new regions. Cultural sensitivity is key to international leadership but equally important on the domestic front where stakeholders and staff will increasingly represent different nationalities and cultures. Gaffes can be costly in terms of reputation, productivity, contracts and partnership relations while sensitivity and awareness can help any organisation navigate new territory with success. Topics for learning might include cross-cultural management, global supply chain management, emerging markets, economic Trends and forecasting and international regulations and compliance.
• Marketing and customer experience: Understanding market dynamics and customer behaviour helps executives drive growth and create value for customers. In today’s volatile, globally competitive and fickle markets, customers have access to choice as never before which means leadership in all functions need to be finely attuned to their demands and relationships to the brands or services they are offering. Optimum CX and customer engagement/loyalty is fundamental to commercial success and therefore should be a consideration in every strategic decision. Key topics for study might include: digital marketing, consumer behaviour, brand management, customer relationship management, market research and analysis and user experience (UX) design.

How to attain them:

If you’re seeking a formal qualification, enjoy academia and have the time and capacity, you may wish to explore formal education options like the Open University or studying for a diploma to develop your expertise in your professional field. Some organisations will finance further study for employees and offer sabbaticals.

There is a myriad of less formal options available to help keep your broad business credentials polished and relevant for executive transition or progression. A burgeoning industry of professional learning has emerged in response to demand during this most testing of times for senior leadership. Personal recommendations are the best way to go or try using a Gen AI tool such as ChatGPT for suggestions.

Perhaps your company offers opportunities such as in-house training or mentoring schemes. Or you might wish to set up your own mentoring scheme or internship. Taking on PhD students or specialists or buddying up with younger recruits can serve both parties extremely well with reciprocal learning. As an experienced leader, you have much to give, while the process of mentoring can help build social skills, communication, self-awareness and intergenerational connectedness.

And of course there are many free online resources, such as webinars and courses produced by companies trying to promote their products or digital platforms such as LinkedIn, Coursera and edX. You can also watch TedTalks, tune into podcasts or follow blogs. Here’s a Forbes list of books and blogs for leaders to read in 2024 to get you started.

The Rialto website also has a library of resources.

If you require a more personalised Leadership benchmarking and understanding of your skill set, gaps that need addressing or expertise that needs updating, you may wish to engage a professional executive career coach.

What is crucial to all leaders who want to stay ahead of the curve and remain relevant, valued and influential, is the right mindset. Being open to new ideas, new technologies, new cultural dynamics; staying on top of trends, being aware of what is happening in the news, in politics, in the law, in global relations. This will help provide an external framework of contextual understanding of where the economy is headed in order to make strategic decisions and navigate your own career through an ever-changing climate on to a horizon which might look different every time you stop and peer out.

But it is equally important to look inwards – to have a meaningful understanding of your own capabilities and limitations; to work to develop an emotional maturity that allows you to tap into those feelings and intuitions and compassion when required, and other times, step back and think with logic and reason.

Rialto are global Executive Career Transition & Internal Mobility specialists who can support executives or senior leaders facing challenges in making progress within today/s more competitive and rapidly changing executive marketplace.

The prevalence of older figureheads at the top of some of the most respected and best paid professions and institutions might suggest that the younger baby boomers and older Generation X-ers have never had it so good.

The median age of the world’s national leaders is 62, 70% of UK judges are over 50 and a third over 60; the average FSE 100 chief exec is 56 and the average US equivalent six years older.

Ageism, what ageism? Some might say.

However strip away these super successful outliers and the picture looks far from rosy:

• Half of all workers will lose their jobs in their fifties, most laid off or pushed out, many feeling unable to continue due to caring commitments or health issues.
• Three quarters in the same age group will not be offered promotion opportunities in their current organisations.
• Recent research by the Centre for Ageing Better found that half of people over 50 had experienced discrimination because of their age, most in the workplace.
• More than 800,000 people aged 50-64 are out of work but would like to work.
• Finance, insurance, communications and information and professional and technical services have some of the youngest workforces, making it increasingly challenging for those even in their mid-40s to remain visible and compete for some of the most sought-after roles in those sectors.
• The big four accounting giants – Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG – even have an upper age limit for global leaders who are expected to retire at 60.

So how can senior leaders and executives ensure they continue to be valued and enjoy career progression well into their fifties, sixties and beyond?

Here are six ways to beat ageism and make your extensive experience and mature expertise an asset.

1: Stay tech-savvy

Ageism in the workplace may be partly based on the myth that older means old-fashioned and intimidated by the new.

However, when you consider that the average age of the CEOs of Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia and Apple is 60, it reveals such prejudice to be reductive and ignorant.

Generative AI and other emerging technologies are here to stay and evolving at breakneck speed. It will remain a perpetual challenge to senior leadership and executives of any age to keep up – but there is an abundance of material online to help.

Whatever your sector or function, you should be considering the technological or digital dimension to every strategic decision without exception. Executives who fail to adapt and continue to use old pre-genAI tried and tested methods will find themselves sidelined and left behind.

Challenge stereotypes by learning the language of AI and other frontier and digital technologies and contributing insights at team meetings, boardrooms, networking events and in written reports.

You could start with our previous blog on Seven Steps to Transformative AI Adoption.

It is worth signing up to any in-house training and devoting time every week to reading up on the latest developments in your field as well as taking advantage of free online webinars and videos.

Helpful sites include Wired magazine, Techcrunch, Apple News and Gartner.

2: Keep your skills up to date

In order to remain relevant in today’s fast-changing economic landscape, it is essential to be aware of the skills, both technical and soft, required by employers as they look to build leadership and teams capable of grasping the potential offered by new technologies and trends.

An Ivy League or Oxbridge degree and impressive CV are no longer enough to keep executives at the top of their profession and the old idea of strong leadership and hierarchical structures of authority are making way for people-focused business, approachability, compassion and inclusive environments to encourage managed risk-taking and creativity and support good mental health in the workspace.

Aside from being confident in being able to adapt quickly to change and new technologies, organisations are looking for leaders who demonstrate agility, resilience and emotional intelligence; they must be able to collaborate, communicate and delegate effectively but also be decisive.

Look at our blog on Essential Executive Skills for 2024 for a deeper understanding of the most valued skills of the moment, how to hone them and make them visible to your current or prospective employer or organisation.

3: Refresh your CV & digital profile

Whether you are looking for an executive transition or progression or want to remain relevant in your current post, regularly re-evaluating and refreshing your CV and digital profile can help you to ensure your focus and skillsets remain aligned with the changing workplace requirements.

If you are not currently looking for a new position, imagine your dream job and seek an advert for a role as close to it as possible. What are the skills required? What keywords do they use? How could you update your own resume to fit? Use terminology to demonstrate your familiarity with current industry trends and technology.

It is a good idea to include a digital skills section, showing any software, technology and AI you currently use or any relevant strategies, programmes or campaigns in which you have been involved.

Consider using a responsive design that adapts to different devices and screen sizes. This will automatically send out the message that you are aware of the importance of user  experience and accessibility in the digital age.

You could use various LLMS /Generative AI such as ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to help with ideas on developing and updating your CV & LinkedIn Profile.  Even if you do not plan to proactively market yourself for executive transition or executive outplacement in the near future, keeping both current will highlight any areas for improvement and remind you of the kind of skills and mindset you need to succeed in your current and future organisation.

4: Maintain a work ethic

There is a good reason why the UK Corporate Governance Code recommends a maximum tenure limit for a board chairman to be nine years.

Even the most proficient, experienced and skilled leaders can lose their edge or their enthusiasm if they stay in the same role for too long.

The more routine a job gets, the easier it is to fall into habits and take short cuts.

After 20, 30 or 40 years of working full time, it can be tempting to start coasting towards retirement; having longer lunches, leaving a little earlier, slowing down the pace a little.

However, ennui or lack of appetite and ambition will show itself and it can be contagious. Teams need dynamic leaders who energise, motivate and inspire. Lacklustre performances are unlikely to be rewarded with promotion or progression.

If you can afford to cut down your days to gain more of a work/life balance in your later years without losing efficacy, all power to you.

But make every minute that you are in work count and continue to grow your networks and influence. Challenge stereotypes by demonstrating that you still have the energy and passion of a 25-year-old and nobody will even consider your age a factor.

See your career as a constant journey on an upwards trajectory with unlimited scope for personal growth and development, not a hump that peaks in your 40s.

Consider a career change to suit your changing needs

Of course, if you are struggling to find any joy in work and count down the minutes until the end of the day, the days til the weekend and the weekends until your next holiday, the likelihood is, you are in the wrong job.

As we learned earlier, half of all employees in their fifties are going to lose their position in that decade, so why not pre-empt it? Seize the opportunity to reset, retrain, re-pivot and reinvigorate your career.

It might be that you have health issues or caring responsibilities that make it difficult to commute, work long days and travel for extended periods or that you have drifted from your target career trajectory.

If you have reached a senior leadership or executive level, you have a wealth of experience and skills that would be valuable in any organisation; you might just need support remembering what they are and gaining the motivation and confidence to make a change.

This is where professional career support can help. Career coaches can help you understand the changing world of work and where you might fit in it, or to gain new skills to help launch you in a different role, organisation, sector or even country.

Whether you are in a secure position or seeking work, it is never too late to look for a dramatically different role that will accommodate your changing needs or satisfy long-held but frustrated ambitions.

It can be all too easy to sleepwalk into a stale and unrewarding mid-life career; to become invisible, undervalued and underpaid or to lose sight of your youthful ambition.

But with the ageing population and over 50s fitter than ever thanks to improving healthcare and changing attitudes, middle age is just a state of mind.

Staying open to continuous learning and opportunities for personal growth and progress is key to reducing an individual’s chances of falling victim to age discrimination in the workplace.  However it can happen anywhere to anyone and is far too often perpetrated by leadership from the same age group.

Everyone in the UK, the US and the EU is protected legally from ageism and can seek recourse through legal channels.

Rialto consultants can support you to revitalise or repivot your career at any age. We also run frequent complimentary online webinars on AL, Leadership, Future of Work, Portfolio Careers and other Professional Development topics.

With rising life expectancy and pension ages and a declining birth rate, the workforce is ageing gracefully.

Almost two fifths of the UK population is over 50, up from 32% in 1981, an increase of 6.8 million people. The number of over-65s is expected to surpass the under-16s across Europe this year.

Meanwhile, the lower birth rate means fewer younger people are starting work to replace the retiring bulging Baby Boomers’ generation. Unless industry catches up, the demographic timebomb will have a profound impact on society, healthcare and the economy which is why the UK government and others are encouraging employers to value and actively nurture, retain and recruit older workers.

Over 55s currently represent 25% of our workforce. Yet over-50s are far more likely to be overlooked for promotions, retraining and hiring – one in three believe they have been turned down for a job because of their age and one in five employers admit age discrimination occurs in their organisation.

As well as being illegal and risking prosecution and reputational damage, discriminating on the basis of age is a poor business strategy which could leave any organisation short on skills and with an imbalanced and unstable workforce.

Here are five ways to support older workers – and reap the rewards.

1: Offer mid-life M0Ts.

This is a pilot that has been tested by the Centre for Ageing Better with four big UK companies and it has yielded positive results.

The scheme takes a holistic look at individuals once they reach the 50 milestone.

It explores finance and pension plans, career progression, aspirations and looks at how staff can better balance work with looking after their health and their families.

The result was increased productivity, reduced absence through sickness, commitment to ongoing learning and lower attrition rates.

A fifth of older people surveyed by The Centre for Ageing Better said lack of training was a barrier to their professional development. Are employers failing to offer training or retraining to older staff because they believe it will be a waste of resources? Or that older staff no longer wish to learn or even don’t have the capacity?

In the same survey, 90% of older staff said they took training when it was offered.

Meanwhile, the US Bureau of Statistics found that 45-54-year-old employees stayed with their company twice as long as 25-34-year-olds, meaning greater ROI when investing in older staff.

Offering clear progression pathways and keeping training programmes inclusive to all ages as part of ongoing later-career support can help keep your workforce motivated and skilled in alignment with your organisation’s strategic development and growth.

2: Include age in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training

Most firms are hot on training around race, gender and disability discrimination but age bias is the big unspoken taboo.

Training could include positive reinforcement about older workers, guidance around the law and menopause awareness.

Ensure all staff are fully aware that disparaging comments, hostility and jokes around age are as unacceptable as those around ethnicity or sexuality; create systems where such inappropriate behaviour can be safely reported and managed.

3: Create a mentoring programme

Inter-generational workforces drive greater productivity, morale, continuity and cohesiveness. Mentoring schemes help connect the generations, allow more mature and experienced staff to share their accumulated knowledge and offer trainees, interns and younger staff safe relationships in which to ask questions, test ideas and learn. They encourage younger generations to appreciate the value of their more mature colleagues and make older staff feel integral to the workplace culture and evolution. The mentor/mentee relationships can also build a sense of familial loyalty and belonging to an organisation and improve wellbeing.

4: Ensure your public face is visibly inclusive

In order to keep and attract the best talent from every age group, make sure they are all represented in written and visual communications. Keep language inclusive – avoid terms like “young” or “energetic” in job adverts. Make sure there is a broad demographic represented in any images of the company, including older men and women of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds. Ensure any potential recruit can see themself becoming part of your organisation or team.

5: Take care of workforce health and wellbeing

More than half of workers will have long-term health conditions by the time they reach 60 but this needn’t be a barrier to productivity.

Making sure they have access to programmes or groups that focus on their physical wellbeing, like lunchtime yoga or Pilates, and mental wellbeing, like meditation or mindfulness classes, could encourage a more positive relationship with work

You can keep your workforce healthier for the future by extending health services to employees of all ages. For example, being aware of ergonomic practices to prevent back pain or musculoskeletal problems and offering access to occupational health could reduce the chance of these conditions becoming chronic.

Reviewing your workplace benefits for ways to support employees’ mental, emotional, and physical health throughout their working lives could mean they enjoy a healthy, active life as they get older.

Menopause support is equally vital to help your older female workforce. Half of the population will go through the menopause, eight out of 10 during their working life. A quarter will suffer debilitating symptoms including anxiety, joint pain, hot flushes and insomnia yet three quarters say their workplace does not offer any formal support.

Too often, women suffering some of these extreme effects feel they must suffer in silence, pass over promotions, cut their working hours or leave their job. A 2023 UK survey found almost a quarter were considering quitting because work conditions had become unbearable, potentially a damaging drain of talent and experience. Companies that fail to protect the employment rights of older women suffering menopausal symptoms also leave themselves open to legal action on the grounds of gender and/or disability discrimination.

Menopause training, flexible working, cooler office spaces, wellbeing support and other health programmes can all help minimise the impact for women, remove the stigma and extend their productivity and career lifespan.

More than 2,700 UK employers have signed up to The Menopause Workplace Pledge, committing to actively provide menopause support to staff, including Tesco and NHS England.

Two thirds of employers reported a skills shortage last year, yet as we have explored here, a ready-made workforce, experienced, emotionally mature and keen to be upskilled, is available to fill those gaps.

Rialto can support employers looking to identify and fill skills shortages within their organisations and support senior employees through mid-life MoTs with personalised programmes and coaching and online seminars on subjects around leadership and new technologies.

“Storytelling is the best way we have of coming up with new ideas.” Richard Branson.

Humans have used stories to explain, entertain and connect since the dawn of time, from prehistoric man seeking to understand and therefore survive the vagaries of nature and wildlife to the highly sophisticated marketing machines of modern commerce and politics.

We are drawn to the people and entities able to tell gripping, inspiring, emotional or insightful tales. Conversely, when a story seems phoney or does not make sense, we react with suspicion or fill in the gaps ourselves.

With the deafening cacophony of noise and choices we now face from a bewildering proliferation of communication media and modes, it is more essential than ever to control the narrative: to simplify the story, stand out and connect with your target audience, whether presenting to a panel or room full of people or one to one to a future customer. Adding a human dynamic and emotional connection to all your communications will give you that elusive and powerful elixir – likeability – and make it more likely you will be remembered too.

Here are six ways to use storytelling to supercharge your career.

1: Hone your ‘tell me about yourself’ story

Life can easily become a messy and highly-pressured jumble of competing priorities, responsibilities and missed opportunities unless you take time to reflect on the past, focus on the now and imagine your desired future.

Self-possession begins with insight into what you are doing and why you are doing it. Only then can you communicate your own value, qualities and personal brand to others.

What is the story of you and how can you use it in your professional capacity?

Understanding yourself, your unique history, set of abilities, skills, weaknesses and limitations, what motivates you, how, where, when and with whom you work best, is essential in effective leadership and professional development.

Imagine you are recounting your life story to a new acquaintance or even a therapist.

Choose the five most formative events.

It might be a painful loss or a sporting achievement; the birth of your first, longed-for child or a moment of inspired enlightenment. Practice telling the story of each.

These events do not happen in a vacuum. How do they fit into the narrative of your life? What impact did they have on you? How did you respond? What did you learn? How can you incorporate these life lessons into the way you do business and present yourself?

Not only will understanding the story of your life help you make better decisions and hopefully refresh your own sense of purpose, sharing that story, showing your humanity and vulnerability, helps build genuine connections and trust.

Your experiences, challenges, and triumphs become relatable touchpoints, making you more approachable and memorable in professional interactions. These connections often translate into stronger networks and opportunities for collaboration.

2: Ensure you are memorable when networking

Consider how many people you have met throughout your professional career. Hundreds? Thousands? How many really stood out? A handful? Why did they leave such an indelible impression?

The likelihood is they were good storytellers; they spoke with vigour and enthusiasm about their subject and had you fully engaged. They will also have shown a genuine interest in you and teased your story out without coming across as too intense or intrusive.

Imagine a scenario where you are at a networking event. First you meet Norman who immediately tries to sell his multinational accounting firm to you by reeling off its many achievements and his personal qualifications.

Next up is Chief Finance Officer #2, charismatic Ameera, who asks all about you, then, when you inquire how she got into her line of work, shares animatedly how she hated maths at school until one eccentrically-exuberant teacher came along and brought numbers to life. Ameena explains how she went from having panic attacks about trigonometry to seeing its artistry and tells you how it was intrinsic in great scientific discoveries in matters as diverse as mountains, music and blood. Her enthusiasm is infectious. She apologises for droning on, but you find, to your surprise, you are genuinely interested in how there could be a single equation which describes the full history of the universe. This is someone who is clearly authentic, interesting and passionate about what she does.

With which of the two would you immediately seek to connect, professionally? Want to work for or with? Which will you remember in years to come? Who would you think to recommend if asked?

If you can tell your story in a succinct, memorable way, it will travel well: your listener becomes the storyteller and your carefully crafted reputation will precede you.

Good storytelling drives productive conversations and creates lasting connections. Funny and self-deprecating anecdotes are the fastest way to get people to drop their guard and trust the speaker.

People will remember fondly “Kwame who had us all in stitches with that story about the escaped penguin” more than they will “Joan who worked at Sony for 12 years before she was headhunted by her current firm”.

What stories could you prepare for networking events, meetings and conferences to make yourself memorable? Think back to those formative moments in your life. How can you relate them to the purpose of your networking activity? Of course, trying to shoehorn a story into a conversation could be awkward but you can almost guarantee you will be asked what you do and what got you into it or what you like about it.

Don’t prepare scripted answers as they will always seem stilted but do have some story ideas ready to go – and if you feel confident injecting humour, all the better. Try not to be heard repeating your story but do refine it as you go. There is nothing wrong with a little embellishment for entertainment’s sake, as long as you keep it credible and factually accurate.

3: Make the right impression at interviews

There is a very good reason why hirers don’t recruit from the page. A CV may tell the story of your professional history, a covering letter may explain why you want the job and believe yourself to be the best candidate.

Employers want to get a sense of the person and how they would fit into the company culture. It’s also human nature to seek a personal connection. Quite simply, they are looking for someone they like and might enjoy working with.

Interviewing panels will therefore rely on non-verbal clues and instincts as much as the bare facts of your education, experience and skills.

They will want to see evidence of your soft skills and that includes an ability to read a room and respond appropriately, communicate effectively, listen and understand what is being asked of you.

As discussed earlier, storytelling is not only a fast track to creating emotional connections, it is also strongly associated with memory. Research by the Stanford Graduate school of Business found a story is 22 times more memorable than facts alone. The human brain looks for a beginning, middle and end to make sense of new information and file it effectively.

Think again of the story of why you do what you do.

Whatever trajectory your professional development has taken to get you to this point, it is as unique as your fingerprint; it will have featured moments of clarity, periods of doubt, failures, triumphs, milestones and near-misses. Share some of that. Leave them with a strong feeling of who you are while demonstrating your adaptability, resilience and insight.

That means being authentic and self-aware. Prepare as described above. Take time to really think about the answer to: Why do you think you’re the right person for this job? If you don’t really know, how will they?

It is now standard interview etiquette to back up interview statements with evidence. It’s not enough to state that you have a growth mindset, you need to give concrete examples of where and when you have been able to demonstrate that effectively.  Prepare compelling narratives. Telling well-constructed, honest and succinct stories will impress and endure.

4: Maintain an authentic personal brand

Your career is more than just a series of job titles – it’s a narrative of growth, experience and expertise. By strategically sharing your professional journey you can shape a powerful personal brand. Crafting a clear narrative around your skills, values, and achievements helps differentiate you in a competitive market. Your story becomes your unique selling proposition, positioning you as an authority in your field and a person of integrity and purpose.

Think carefully about how you wish to be seen and try to convey this through your personal story in all public-facing profiles and communications, whether through your website, LinkedIn page or when introducing yourself at professional events and presentations. Keep it consistent and authentic.

Stakeholders, employees, professional contacts and customers and markets are more likely to respond positively if they respond emotionally to your clearly-defined purpose, even if your story is one that does not immediately chime with their own. People buy from people.

5: Enhance your leadership presence

Leadership isn’t solely about authority; it’s about inspiring and motivating others. Great leaders use storytelling to articulate vision, convey values and galvanise teams behind shared goals. Whether addressing a team meeting or delivering a keynote speech, storytelling humanises leadership, making it more inclusive and inspiring. Leaders who master this skill can cultivate a positive, relatable organisational culture.

The most transformative leaders in business are able to share what drives and inspires them in order to drive and inspire others, often drawing on an event or time in their own life.

Every career journey has its share of setbacks and challenges. Sharing stories of resilience and overcoming obstacles not only builds credibility but also inspires others. Your ability to narrate adversity and growth demonstrates your capacity to adapt and learn—an invaluable executive trait in today’s fast-paced workplaces.

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, whose personal vision changed the way coffee is served and sold worldwide, did not need to reveal intimate personal details to explain how his humble beginnings, growing up in a poor Brooklyn housing project, fired him up to seek out possibilities in the least auspicious places.

“The more uninspiring your origins, the more likely you are to use your imagination and invent worlds where everything seems possible,” he said.

6: Share employee & team stories

Make employees feel valued and seen by sharing their stories. Single out individuals who have gone above and beyond, analyse and celebrate their success to inspire colleagues. Naming employees and sharing a few personal details humanises your workforce, fosters a sense of belonging and comradeship and builds teams.

It may be something they have done out of work – run a marathon, volunteering overseas, having triplets. Obviously first seeking permission, sharing these details and milestones makes each member of staff feel their organisation knows and cares about them and what matters to them. It builds loyalty and will ultimately be rewarded with greater staff retention.

At its core, effective storytelling is persuasive. When you weave a compelling narrative you can influence opinions, inspire action, and drive change. Whether you’re pitching a new idea, negotiating terms, or delivering a presentation, a well-crafted story can captivate your audience making your message resonate deeply. Stories bypass mere data and statistics, evoking emotional responses that can sway decisions in your favour.

Storytelling is a skill that evolves with practice. Actively seeking opportunities to share your stories refines your communication abilities over time. Pay attention to audience feedback, refine your narratives, and experiment with different storytelling techniques. The more adept you become at storytelling, the more versatile and adaptable you’ll be in various career scenarios.

Storytelling is a strategic tool for professional growth and success. By embracing storytelling, you can forge meaningful connections, influence outcomes, strengthen your personal brand, and inspire others. Behind every successful career, organisation, product and service,there’s a compelling story waiting to be told.

It goes without saying that effective management is the cornerstone of organisational success, characterised by strong leadership, strategic vision, and the ability to inspire and empower teams.

In today’s rapidly evolving landscape of technology, the integration of generative AI systems is reshaping traditional business models and management approaches. As businesses embrace these transformative technologies, leaders must adapt their management strategies to leverage the potential of AI while fostering human collaboration and innovation.

While styles may vary, underlying principles and practices consistently define effective leaders.

Here we identify four of those key attributes, qualities and strategies and review how some of recent history’s most successful business leaders have embodied them. These lessons in leadership apply as much to any FTSE or Nasdaq-listed executive as they do to senior team leaders in an SME, Government or the public sector.

1: Visionary leadership:

The alpha leadership quality, characterised by confident capability to create and communicate a clear and compelling vision for the future of an organisation. A visionary leader will demonstrate a distinct and clear sense of purpose and direction, motivating others

to support ambitious goals and innovative ideas. This leadership style extends beyond daily activities and emphasises long-term strategic planning and transformative initiatives to create a lasting impact.

Visionary leaders can be guru-like in their style but not authoritarian, creating a culture aligned with the company’s purpose, values and strategic objectives. They are forward-thinking innovators who create safe spaces to encourage creativity and experimentation without fear of failure. They anticipate future trends and can continually reposition their organisation to maintain a dynamic thrust, never resting but always re-inventing.

Think Apple over Nokia, Facebook over MySpace.

The difference? The visionary leadership of their respective founders, Apple’s Steve Jobs and Facebook’s Mark Zukerberg. Both inspired almost cult-like enthusiasm and loyalty for their products through compelling storytelling, inclusive dialogue and constant adaptation

for future markets, not current ones.

Who best embodies it? Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and X

He’s a Marmite leader – it’s almost impossible not to have an opinion on him. However, few could ever doubt the irrepressible force of his singular vision. And while his obsessive tendencies, eccentricities and pushing of ethical boundaries may have alienated

allies, partners and politicians along the way, he’s the second richest man in the world, continues to reshape the future of our planet and, if he has his way, will change how we live in the solar system.

Musk exemplifies effective management through his relentless pursuit of ambitious goals. His personal leadership – clear communication of vision and brand, commitment to breakthrough technologies and ability to inspire teams to work almost slavishly towards a common purpose – is the difference between Tesla and the competition.

Key takeaway: Remember what it is your company does and why you do it.

2: Strategic agility:

A decade or so ago we might have been talking about strategic ability, but in 2024, with business in a state of constant revolution thanks to the breakneck pace of technological change, strategic agility is an essential requirement for effective management.

Leadership needs to be able to respond quickly and decisively to changing market conditions, emerging opportunities, and unforeseen challenges. They must look to the horizon and anticipate trends, like a cricket batsman reading the bowler and adjusting his stance before the ball is thrown.

Executives and senior leadership need to build strategic agility into the very DNA of their organisation so they can navigate markets which are constantly shifting according to consumer preferences, regulatory changes and competitive pressures as well as emerging technologies which constantly create new opportunities and risks.

Businesses need to be able to flex and innovate, explore new ideas, markets, products and services to seize growth opportunities in dynamic environments. Only then can they outmanoeuvre slower-moving competitors.

This demands a data-driven culture where real time changes within and outside the organisation can be collected and analysed to drive future-focused decision-making.

Who best embodies it? Jeff Bezos, founder and  Executive Chairman of Amazon:

Amazon turns 30 this year and the sprawling, ubiquitous behemoth of an organisation it has become represents the singular, towering achievement of one man’s strategic agility.

In July 1994, Bezos left his finance job to open a virtual bookstore from his garage.

Without strategic agility, he might be running a bigger virtual bookstore now. However, he has spent the three decades since constantly identifying nascent trends and technologies that would become part of the very fabric of the future.

When eBay first launched he spotted its potential and launched a rival immediately. Though it flopped, he loved the concept. Instead, he diversified his online book shop into kitchen goods, building layer by layer as he recognised and seized new opportunities to expand his online marketplace, backed by new efficient ways of logistical working, some of them controversial, in his mega fulfilment centres.

Not content with running the world’s biggest retail organisation, he was an early mover into cloud computing with Amazon Web Services and expanded into streaming services and smart devices, responding adeptly to market opportunities and consumer demands.

Key takeaway: Look up and anticipate the future.

3: Empathy and inclusion:

Equal rights in the workplace have been enshrined in law in the UK since 2010 and more recently, employers have come to see the business case as well as the ethical case for quality, diversity and inclusion.

In 2024, leaders are not only expected to oversee a fair and representative organisational culture but to demonstrate authentic empathy, compassion and emotional intelligence in the way they lead. It is no longer enough to live by the letter of the law, effective leadership means getting the best out of the human workforce by personalising the experience of every individual, celebrating difference, seeing the person with their unique set of skills and flaws; making them feel valued, heard, seen and appreciated.

This paradigm of people-centric management comes against the contextual background of potentially dehumanising technology becoming increasingly integrated with every aspect of work and of the rising awareness of mental health factors and isolating hybrid or home-working culture in the aftermath of the Pandemic.

Mental health issues and disorders are so prevalent in 2024 that organisational leadership that fails to recognise and support those feeling the impact – or fear of being displaced or intimidated by new technologies – risk lower productivity and burnout, causing problems with retention and talent recruitment.

A US study found 82% of employees would leave their job for a more empathetic organisation yet 58% of CEOs told the same study they struggled to constantly show empathy at work.

Effective leadership cultivates emotional intelligence within management practices, emphasising empathy, active listening and collaboration and prioritising human connections. Empathetic leaders reject pyramid-shaped hierarchies to empower all employees to have a voice and be heard.

Who best embodies it? Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

Cook is a leader who is always seen to prioritise feelings. His gift is making his workforce feel like one big family; he exudes empathy and authenticity and encourages his staff to do the same.

He is always able to hit the right note when sending out messages to his staff in the wake of a national or global tragedy that might have touched them and constantly reinforces the Apple ethos of inclusion and diversity.

Not only does this ensure devotion from his workforce and make a job at Apple one of the most coveted, the inclusive ethos is shared with customers. Anyone who has been to an Apple store may have noticed that despite all the high-end shiny tech on show, there

is a community café-like feel.

That all translates to unrivalled brand loyalty. 92.6% of iPhone owners are loyal to Apple, compared to 74.6% of Samsung users and it has a customer retention rate of 90%.

Key takeaway: empathy demands authenticity, act through listening not copying others or it will ring hollow.

4:Data-Driven Decision-Making:

In today’s technology-led world of business, no company, no matter how big or small, can afford to make significant strategic decisions without leveraging data analytics alongside traditional human experience and expertise.

Data-driven decision-making enables organisations to gain invaluable actionable insights, based on historic and real-time information about organisational performance, trends, what the competition is doing and predictive analytics for where their sector is headed.

It enables leadership to peer into the future and prepare business models, workforce readiness and a defined yet flexible strategy to best exploit customer preference and market conditions; to streamline operations and optimise efficiency and profit margins, innovate and expand into developing markets and regions while mitigating risks.

Technology to gather and analyse data has become accessible to all, not just data scientists – and affordable.

Meanwhile generative AI tools can be employed directly by leadership to gain a perspective on current and future economic landscapes in their sector and their organisation’s place in it.

Effective leadership demands wise delegation and macro-management. However, executives and senior leadership should be using the information-crunching, analytical and creative powers of generative AI – and encouraging staff at all levels to do the same – to optimise efficiency, stimulate a culture of continuous learning and stay up to date on developments and trends in their sectors and marketplaces.

Of course, this all comes with the caveat of due diligence. Generative AI and other frontier technologies are fraught with risks including frequent inaccuracy, data protection and intellectual property issues. Every organisation should have its own policy on use of AI and training around ethics and regulation.

Who embodies it? Reed Hastings, co-founder and Executive Chair of Netflix.

Reed Hastings’ data-driven approach has transformed Netflix from a DVD rental service into a global streaming giant. By prioritising data analysis in every aspect of the business, Netflix can make informed decisions, reduce risks, and strategically allocate resources for continued growth.

Netflix was the first successful streaming service and the first to use algorithms to make personalised recommendations. It recognised that data was key to knowing its customers, on an individual basis and as a “type”, by using collaborative filters and a broader

knowledge base – and that customers who were offered more relevant, personalised content were more likely to stay subscribed.

Hastings also recognised that data could be used in every strategic decision, from content creation to global expansion. Netflix analyses every user interaction – search patterns, completion rates, where they pause, rewind or fast-forward – to improve functionality

and deliver its own content according to popular tastes and trends.

It also uses data to analyse market trends, internet penetration rates and potential subscriber demographics to identify promising new territories and look for collaborators for future projects in any part of the world.

Key takeaway: Digital literacy and an understanding of the power of data – and its risks – are now essential skills for anyone in leadership.

It is no coincidence that the individuals we have chosen to exemplify effective leadership are all tech innovators. This is the industry leading the way in management styles, growth and value.

While those styles may look different and even clash – Musk and Cook, for example, would probably not be able to run a successful corner shop together – the fundamentals of effective leadership are the same, whatever industry and in any organisation. Though of course priorities will change according to region, sector, the broader socio-economic and political landscape and the general zeitgeist.

All leaders – no matter how successful – need to take time to actively evaluate their own effectiveness and look for areas where they can build new skill sets and expertise to evolve, adapt and stay ahead of the competition.

For all the talk of mass adoption of Artificial Intelligence in business, the reality is more nuanced. Outside of the tech sector and world’s most innovative and wealthy institutions, AI-inspired disruption and revolution has been held back by skills shortages, hesitancy around organisational knowledge, workforce fears, ethical considerations, funding, regulatory, governance and compliance fears.

However, most analysts agree that 2024 will be the year that hype is translated into action: research, recruitment, investment, experimentation and integration.  A recent Reuters survey of more than 4,000 professionals, primarily board level and senior leadership, found that 76% of their organisations were either using generative AI or planning to use it in the next 12 months.

Meanwhile a MIT Technology Review Insights survey of 300 global leaders published just this month found that most expect to double the purposes and functions where they deploy Generative AI in 2024, particularly in customer experience, strategic analysis and product innovation.

All the research suggests the minority that are not looking at AI solutions as a matter of organisational priority risk falling behind.

The good news is that this is the perfect window in which to benefit from being an early adopter while learning from the outliers, the earliest pioneers and developers who have paved the way for the next phase of the AI revolution.

So, how can senior leadership best collaborate to build a roadmap and supportive framework to achieve effective and safe organisational implementation of Generative AI and related frontier technologies, such as large language models, big data analytics, machine learning, robotics and natural language processing?

Here is our seven-step action plan to investigate and implement some of the core opportunities presented by rapidly advancing frontier technologies – while ensuring due diligence – to achieve maximum advantage with minimal risk, drag and organisational disruption.

Step 1: Senior leadership to collaborate, including department heads, human resources, board members and IT to build understanding around how new technologies could benefit the organisation. 

The first step is to ensure you have the talent, skills and leadership to identify opportunities and risks. This may mean restructuring the board, introducing executives with appropriate expertise such as Chief Information Officer or Chief Data Officer or creating a committee to oversee an organisational review through the dual lenses of technology and change management.

Senior leadership from every function should be familiar with the primary AI tools including ChatGPT, Gemini and specialist end-to-end platforms making waves in their sector, reading blogs and articles, listening to Podcasts, speaking to colleagues and associates or being briefed by internal or external experts.

All board members and senior leaders should be able to contribute to planning and implementing AI policies and infrastructure in line with the strategic objectives of their department and beyond, and possess or train up in the skills required to drive AI-led transformation such as resilience, emotional intelligence and critical thinking.

Leadership should oversee an audit of organisational data upon which successful AI-integration depends. If you have not already got one, you may wish to consider managing in a data department to audit and integrate data-driven decision making before attempting to usher in a wave of AI-based change.

Step 2: Commission a market scope. 

What are competitors doing well, doing badly – or not doing at all? Who is using what? And why? Which are actively promoting their AI credentials? Can you see their tangible benefits? Can you imagine your own organisation successfully replicating or superseding the successes while ironing out any potential issues. Look at the current market, pipeline technologies and end uses and horizon planning.

Step 3:  Avoid hype by starting with your pain points and unrealised growth potential and looking for solutions. 

Many companies have made the mistake of throwing money at popular headline platforms and then trying to make them fit.

Your team of experts and/or consultants should be able to make the case for every proposed investment and integration with projected ROI and other benefits such as improved customer and employee experience. Efficiency savings are only one of the potential opportunities to optimise your business. Think also about how AI and other technologies could help develop your business model and products or services, explore new markets, improve talent acquisition and management and logistics/procurement and supply chain processes.

4: Create a roadmap with actionable insights based on your thorough research and consultation. 

At what speed do you want or need to move? Where do you stand to make the greatest gains? What tensions must you navigate?  What are the risks and how can you minimise and mitigate them? (see below) Do you have the data to support integration and optimisation? What infrastructural, hardware and talent adjustments do you need to make?

Start with simple processes that will augment your existing operations to ensure smooth entry and employee confidence. For example, data management and analytics and automation of simple, repetitive tasks to free up employees for more meaningful work, quality assurance and monitoring and continuous, personalised employee training.

How your roadmap looks will depend on many factors including:

• Your sector. Health, customer services and marketing are among the industries and functions investing most heavily in technological investment – and expecting to see the highest growth. Logistics, public sector, education and energy companies have been more hesitant. You may find the road to successful integration better laid out if you are in a sector that is already embracing disruptive technologies – though that also means that if you are not one of those leading the way, you need to start catching up before it is too late. Conversely, those in the sectors with the lowest investment may have the hardest climb yet most to gain.
• The size of your business. The Reuters research found larger businesses were far more enthusiastic tech investors than SMEs. Effective adoption should ultimately reduce costs and improve profit margins but are you financially stable enough to justify and sustain mass investment now or would incremental changes suit your organisation better?
• Your business model. Do you have the agility, adaptability and flexibility to do things differently with technology? If not, how can you build that in?

Step 5: Explore vendor options.  

While big tech vendors – including Amazon, IBM, Google and Microsoft – are responsible for some of the biggest-selling AI tools and platforms, the development of generative AI and cloud computing has spawned a plethora of smaller, niche end-to-end platforms and tools which may be more relevant and financially viable to your business. It is worth bringing together a team of expertise or contracting consultants to explore all options and create a detailed plan before committing. Experiment with smaller tools and analyse the impact before extending across different functions. You may wish to integrate an end-to-end platform, such as Salesforce, Genesys or Amazon Web Service and bolt on tools as you go, or it may be beneficial to you to work with a software/AI developer to design an in-house system based on your own unique needs and business model.  Experiment with different models and tools and look out for free trials.

Depending on the size and scale of your AI-based integration, will you need data scientists and other specialists to integrate and manage your new technologies? Or can you buy in software that comes with human support to provide the expertise?

There are simple ways to immediately augment existing systems and workflows with add-on GenAI applications such as Microsoft’s Copilot which has integrated ChatGPT with its Bing Search engine to assist creative content, visual and text-based, improving productivity and inspiring innovation. Once again, training is key to ensure maximum gain from the licensable tool and minimising risks associated with all AI uses.

Research has found that many employees are using Copilot  and other GENAI tools at work independently, and while their initiative is to be applauded, it is essential that organisations take the lead in putting in place company policies around use of GenAI, setting out who should and should not be using it and for what purposes, alongside training to ensure responsible and ethical usage. (See step 7)

Step 6: Open a dialogue with stakeholders. 

Who needs to sign off investment and change management? Do you have investors to convince? Once you understand what you are trying to do, it is imperative that you communicate your intentions, purpose and methods very clearly to appropriate stakeholders. It is equally important to provide a safe space for honest feedback, to listen and nurture collaboration, constant adjustment and refinement.

This may only be board members, senior leadership, investors and partners at the earliest stage. However, the entire affected workforce must be brought on board before change is rolled out. Surveys show many employees are intimidated by technology and fear it will take their jobs. Before any staff are expected to work alongside AI and other new technologies, c-suite, senior leadership, team managers, human resources and internal comms need to work together to reassure, educate and train staff.

Technologies, data, analytics and machine learning are only as good as the humans piloting, feeding, analysing and monitoring them.

Step 7: Ensure ethical and regulatory guardrails are in place and test them thoroughly before going live. 

Experimental technology is by its very nature high risk and fallible.

You will have heard of generative AI hallucinating – the way it creates content by predicting next words in a sentence leaving it susceptible to total fabrication (though recent reports show Google’s Gemini is now winning the accuracy race over ChatGPT). It is imperative that all output is verified by humans, for tone and potential bias as well as factual errors.

Consider also ethical issues around transparent and accountable data management, intellectual property rights, regulations laws and customs across geographical and cultural regions and borders. Many companies have set up committees or teams to monitor compliance and ethics. There are technological solutions to all these issues but, as always, they need human managers.

Of course, technology-driven transformation and related change management are a process, not an event. The platforms, tools and applications are changing day by day, as are regulations in different parts of the world. Once integrated, AI-based solutions will need constant updating and refining which is why one eye should always be kept on the horizon. Impact must constantly be measured, evaluated against KPIs and adjustments made accordingly.

There is no finish line. It’s no use being an early adopting hare if you’re caught napping as the more cautious tortoises plod past you.

Having the soft skills embedded throughout your workforce to step up to the challenge of constant change and adaptation is as important as importing or training up staff in the technical expertise needed to implement effective transformation.

AI and related technologies will continue to impact almost every function in every sector, whether through automation or augmentation. After the initial phase of instinctive fear of the new, progressive leadership is increasingly appreciating the virtuous cycle of positive transformation afforded by AI proficiency.

Rialto has a team of experts who can support individuals, teams and organisations of any size in any sector through the seven steps to successful AI investment and integration, from market research to change management and skills benchmarking, and beyond.

Contact us for additional insights related to accelerating AI adoption and/or benchmarking your firm’s readiness to adopt AI compared to peers in your industry globally.

Once upon a time, senior executives and leadership tended to work behind closed office doors. The public face of the company – chair, CEO – or appropriate spokesperson would be wheeled out only occasionally to communicate big news.

Today, visibility, transparency and influence are cornerstones of strong and effective leadership. Consumers and clients, now used to the sharing connectivity and culture ushered in by social media, want to know who they are buying from or working with. Are they aligned ethically and brand-wise with the decision makers and, in the case of consumers, individuals profiting from their hard-earned money?

Talent also wants to feel connected to leadership, to feel they know and trust the people they work for and are valued.

If you are leading a medium to large organisation, you will have your own internal and external comms teams to manage the daily output of information, working in tandem with leadership to help maintain consistency and protect and promote the brand.

Alongside and above that, executives should be thinking about ways to position themselves as thought leaders and be seen to embody the essence and ethos of the organisation. Positive visibility will enhance relations with all stakeholders, raise your profile and further the objectives of the company as well as your own career.

Here are 11 steps to communicating with purpose.

1. Identify your purpose. Take time to consider why it is that you do what you do, as an individual and as an organisation. If you want stakeholders to believe, you have to bring them on board with your vision. Sometimes, with nose constantly to the grindstone, it is easy to lose sight of your purpose. Step back and ask, what you are expecting your core audience to buy into and why?

How do you want to come across? Tesla is an interesting case in point. The cult of personality around unpredictable CEO Elon Musk would never work in a bank or insurance company which needs a safe pair of hands. But Musk’s risk-taking innovative leadership style is perfectly matched to his disruptive brand.

How does your leadership style support your purpose and how can you communicate that effectively?

2. Consider the strategic objective behind every communication. What is your key messaging? What do you want to say about your organisation and your part in it and why?

Start with the objective, or call to action, and work backwards to the content and delivery. How do you wish to position yourself? Are you the right person to deliver this message? Think carefully about the words you use around your brand – imagine a word cloud, mentally sketch in the vocabulary you would like to see with your name or company name; try to include as many of those words as you can.

Are you in crisis comms mode? How can you turn that negative attention into a positive?

Are you seeking to build bridges with staff and stakeholders? How can you open channels of communication?

Or are you proactively promoting yourself and your company? Then alignment with branding or a specific campaign should be the priority.

You don’t have to wait until you have news to impart. Events in the wider world can be a springboard for thought leadership pieces as long as they are relevant, timely and you genuinely have something to add to the conversation. Keep the contact going and your presence consistent with regular, targeted output.

3: Consider who you want to reach. Is it customers? Investors? Your workforce? External stakeholders? Is your audience domestic or multi-national? Niche or broad? Tailor your style of delivery accordingly.

One of the greatest challenges facing leadership post-pandemic is maintaining cohesion and engagement from hybrid workforces. Use different channels, both synchronous and asynchronous, to make remote staff feel included and connected. Record personal messages or stream live to celebrate milestones, praise specific teams for jobs well done and share important news.

4: Think where and how you are going to reach them. Meet your target audience in the spaces where they hang out. Gen Z and Alpha – born in the last 25 years – might be more receptive to a TikTok or YouTube video. You’ll find Millennials there but also on Instagram, Whatsapp and Twitter/X.  Language and length of your message should be modified to suit without going completely native –  trying to be “down with the kids” will only ever backfire.

If it’s the business community you want to influence, LinkedIn with its cautious creativity remains the most important channel.

With website blogs and insights, get help with your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation – pushing you up on keyword internet searches) to extend your reach.

If you’re looking to build strong relationships, real life meetings will always be the best way to energise and engage people directly but webinars are more accessible globally and, with the right visual aids and personalities presenting, can have a longer shelf life than a live event if they are recorded and shared via YouTube and other channels.

Podcasts are another way to grow your influence and reach new, global markets in a specific field of interest. Relatively easy and inexpensive to make, they can be carefully choreographed to appear off the cuff and accessible. They offer an excellent opportunity to cloak your branding or messaging in a wide-ranging conversational format that feels more like an experience and less like hard marketing. Audio is often accessed by people when they have time to kill, commuting, walking, waiting, and wearing headphones, making it a focused, immersive listening activity.

However you decide to get your thought leadership out there, choose a Zeitgeist subject, do your research, think how you are going to incorporate key messaging and push it on social media.

5: Don’t be sesquipedalian! (that’s a long word for overusing long words, but you probably knew that already.) Stick to plain, inclusive English (or whatever language you are communicating in) wherever possible. You want your ideas to shine, not be eclipsed by the way you express them.

If you are communicating to a closed group of individuals who are all well versed in your specific sector language, acronyms and technical terms are acceptable.

In all other instances, avoid them. If you are communicating with a broad audience, imagine you are talking or writing to an intelligent 12-year-old. That way, you will avoid being condescending or alienating people. Always use the shortest appropriate word instead of trying to dazzle with complex vocabulary. If you need to use a specific technical term, explain what it means.

6: Use humour (when appropriate). Humour is the great leveller, gets people off their guards and creates emotional connections. If you aren’t naturally gifted or confident trying to be wry or witty, borrow other people’s funny stories or jokes. It’s a good idea to run your content past someone whose judgement you trust and who won’t be afraid to give honest feedback or via a specialist team before you share. A misjudged quip can be more damaging than silence.

7: Keep it brief and memorable. Go back to steps one and two. The fewer words you can use to get your key messaging across, the more effective it will be.

8: Make it visual and lively: This applies especially if you are appealing to a younger market or have a visual product to promote. Visual learners respond to images and graphics, auditory to verbal information. If you can incorporate both, you’re spreading your net wider.

9: Conversations not monologues. When communicating with stakeholders, especially employees, ensure channels are open for two-way communication. Not only will it make people feel invested, appreciated and listened to, they may have invaluable insights to share. As a leader, you can offer them a safe space to sound them out without risk of being shot down or ignored. Respond positively to every suggestion, whether or not it is a goer, to encourage appropriate risk taking and creativity.

If you are limited to text, whether via social media or more traditional formats, ask lots of questions to fully engage your readers’ minds.  On social media, use hashtags, try to get a conversation going.

10: Give something of yourself. If you feel comfortable and safe doing so, connect with your audience by sharing personal anecdotes, thoughts and feelings. For example we’ve just had International Women’s Day – the perfect opportunity to praise the women in your life, whether your mother, partner or Chief Finance Officer. Let people see that you are a human being with multiple facets who understands your customer base or workforce.

Be brave and authentic. Showing humility by revealing your own vulnerabilities or admitting to mistakes is one sure fire way of building genuine trust with your audience.

11: Listen. There is so much more to be gained from listening than from speaking. Once you have initiated a conversation, how will you measure its impact and learn from the response? Feedback is invaluable data, whether positive or negative. The more personalised your response to incoming communication, the more you will positively engage your target audience. Active listening and effective communication can turn a critic into a fan or at least neutralise any negativity.

If you provoke an unmanageable volume of responses, it’s a good sign for starters. Respond in general and use analytics to help extract insights, measure sentiment and adjust your tone or content in future communication.

Of course, every individual has a different style of communication. Finding your voice and platform can take time. Think about what you want to achieve and look at the feeds of the leaders you admire or some of the most renowned influencers such as Arianna Huffington, Bill Gates and Mark Cuban. Also look at those in your own networks at those who resonate or your admire on what they do well.  See how they combine the personal with the professional while maintaining dignity and suitable distance.

Whatever your position, field of expertise or experience in communications, remember your wealth of information is an asset which is valuable to others and carries great currency. Sharing it can only open doors and build stronger relations.

At Rialto, we have a team of specialist consultants covering every area of leadership coaching, including communicating with purpose. If you need support building your profile or communication strategy, contact us on +44 (0) 20 3746 2960.